Activists with direct experience of homelessness speak at #CSocD58
Knowledge sharing and participation:Activists with direct experience of homelessness speak at CSocD58
From February 9th to 20th, 2020, the 58th edition of the Commission for Social Development (#CSocD58) focused - for the first time ever at the United Nations - on the crucial issues of affordable housing and homelessness, a human (rights) crisis affecting the Global North and the Global South in different ways. What is common though is the lived experience of homelessness and the sufferings and trauma that can be associated with a loss of a stable place to call home, both impacting single adults but also children and families. Recognizing the topic of homelessness as the priority theme of this UN Commission, on the year of the 25th anniversary of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and 75th anniversary of the United Nations, was therefore a powerful a way to acknowledge the lives of people experiencing homelessness, the efforts they put forth every day to change their situation, and the rights they are entitled to, including the right to social protection and to adequate housing.
This year again, ATD Fourth World was very engaged in CSocD58, whether at policy level engaging with Governments on the Commission’s political resolutions or by creating spaces for members and friends of the Movement to share their lived experience of homelessness and provide recommendations to bring back more humanity in policy-making and practice. Many of our members have the experience and deep knowledge of life without a stable or safe home, their contribution to the Commission was therefore essential to ensure that global conversations around homelessness were truly rooted in lived experiences and human realities.
1. On February 12, the CSocD58 Multi-Stakeholder Forum aimed to identify key challenges and opportunities governments, local authorities, communities, individuals in addressing homelessness.
Most importantly, the unique expertise of individuals experiencing homelessness was recognized. James Abro, a professional writer, community activist, national advocate for poor peoples rights, and friend of ATD Fourth World, was invited to speak of his own experience of living in shelters for homeless people in New York.
“Many homeless New Yorkers choose to live on the streets rather than enter the shelters. Shelters feel and function like prisons.”
~ James Abro
To watch his message at the United Nations, watch here!
2. On February 14, ATD Fourth World organized a side-event entitled “FINDING OUR WAY HOME: A call for integrated solutions built on the lived experience of homelessness and poverty.”
With the objective of reaffirming the importance of integrating the voices of people with a lived experience of homelessness and poverty both in policy and in practice, this event allowed for a meaningful conversation between Fourth World activists Stacy White and Maryann Broxton, Care for the Homeless CEO George Nashak, French policymaker Martin Szcrupak, and NYU Professor Deborah Padgett. The event report, with key ideas and recommendations, can be found here, including Maryann Broxton’s call for the need to include people with the experience of poverty in the rooms where solutions are made:
“If you are at the table with them, share the power, and make room for their voice. And if you are there, and they are not, demand that they be there alongside you.”
~ Maryann Broxton
From left to right: Dr. Deborah Padgett (NYU), Ms. Stacy White, and Ms. Maryann Broxton (ATD Fourth World)
3. On February 18, long-time Fourth World activist Zena Grimes took the floor at the side event entitled “Single mothers’ specific vulnerability to homelessness and impact on children” and organized by Make Mothers Matter.
She gave her personal account of moving from one shelter to the other with her children and how this affected them including her own relationship with them.
“When I think of those years, the most difficult was to never give up. What gave me the strength was my kids looking up to me to get them a home and to support my family.”
~ Zena Grimes
Her involvement with ATD over the years, particularly for her children, helped in her experience in the shelters. She has been out of the shelter for 19 years now and made a promise to never go back after having one of her daughters. “You just got to keep your head up and move forward.” To read her full message, please click here.
Conclusion
At the United Nations, ATD Fourth World will continue working on these two streams of engaging with Member States to influence resolutions on one hand, and bringing the voices and experiences of people on the other hand, so that policy are never disconnected from the lived experiences and that they truly reflect the needs and aspirations of those first affected by the issues at stake.